Originally posted by: Cerb
Originally posted by: Terumo
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
You do not have the power in a graphical interface that you do on the CLI.
You can still screw everything up (see: any of the tech forums here).
1. Yet.
2. Yes, but that's a tail chasing argument, because the same plagues CLI users who type the wrong switch (or worse d/l the wrong tar ball, and install a wrong or broken patch).
Have to think beyond the here and now, and in 10 years. There
will be a revolution in the server sector to make system administration as easy as desktop computing has become. It takes an organization (a company most often) with the resources to do so. Either that'll come by another innovator, MS or Apple. Mostly likely MS, as it's expected to do it. It's not
if MS will break into the server market wholesale, it's just when (same goes with Apple).
*nix is living the 1971 dream at the moment. 1981, and 1996, is coming up.
As easy as desktop computing> Windows is a nightmare compared to a decent Linux distro, which allows you to do anything you want in the CLI, but also has the option of using GUI front ends. There will be no revolution. It's here. Now. Some people will make GUI tools, but the command-line will merely be
hidden, not done away with. The way it has been working since the 70s is good, and merely needs a few layers added for ease of use of simple options. Try working with IIS, MS Proxy, or Exchange, and then Apache. If you just want to add a domain, the GUI is no sweat. When you want to tweak things and troubleshoot, which grandma will still ned someone else to do, it takes far more time and effort than bringing up Konsole, Xterm, etc., and doing it--which can be done right beside the GUI tools and testing utilities.
System administration will not go away. There are just too many variables and configurations. its scope will narrow, and already has in recent years, but it won't go away as long as there are different things you can set up and do, and different things a company
wants to set up and do.
Cerb, the way you admin will change a lot when grandma will be doing your tasks with a GUI and a simple step-by-step guide. It will have to be a GUI, as history shows it's the best interface the general public accepts. You know about the Dell servers that have DRAC cards? Do you know how popular they are to sysadmins? Yeah, it's not just because it's a one stop shop of the essentials to run a server, it's because a sysadmin can do his business (even remotely), and get back to other business quickly.
KISS principle is more than a string command.
You think grandma wants to worry about what is in the DMZ, and what can connect outside, to the LAN, what servers have priority over others, or any other such crap? No, she will just want it to work, work properly, and continue working properly. Current web-based and GUI admin tools aren't special, or even intuitive. They exist to do very simple tasks. There is
no way to change that, and make it reasonably easy to use at the same time.
KISS only works when the setup is simple. In most business networks, it won't be. A CLI is not a bad interface. A GUI is not a bad interface. It depends on what you need to do. If the answer is, "Anything, and quickly," you need a CLI. If the answer is, "you know, the basic stuff," you can use a GUI fine. Admin work is very much about keeping problems from occuring. Sure, you'll make mistakes, and it isn't the simplest way to do things. But with a system made for it (OS X, Linux, *BSD), you can quickly and easily to
anything with a few hundred keystrokes. That power hasn't gone away yet, and won't be going away any time soon.
XML will not make conpliance any better. MS has already shown they have no problems making custom sub-formats, regardless of any need. What will make it better is W3C stepping up and saying things should be done certain ways, so that different browsers will at least render things close enough that nobody will care.
Terumo, you seem to think that the GUI getting better will make the command line a thing of the past. Fortunately, you're wrong. Better GUI tools will make the GUI more useful, the command line less
necessary, and make it easier to teach n00bs. However, it won't put command lines out of use by any stretch of the imagination. Look at OS X. The best GUI around has important things available via command line interface--because you should use the best tool for the job, not the one that looks prettiest.